罗马书 13
Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified)
要顺服掌权者
13 在上有权柄的，人人当顺服他，因为没有权柄不是出于神的，凡掌权的都是神所命的。 2 所以，抗拒掌权的就是抗拒神的命，抗拒的必自取刑罚。 3 做官的原不是叫行善的惧怕，乃是叫作恶的惧怕。你愿意不惧怕掌权的吗？你只要行善，就可得他的称赞； 4 因为他是神的用人，是于你有益的。你若作恶，却当惧怕；因为他不是空空地佩剑，他是神的用人，是申冤的，刑罚那作恶的。 5 所以你们必须顺服，不但是因为刑罚，也是因为良心。 6 你们纳粮也为这个缘故，因他们是神的差役，常常特管这事。 7 凡人所当得的，就给他：当得粮的，给他纳粮；当得税的，给他上税；当惧怕的，惧怕他；当恭敬的，恭敬他。
爱心完全律法
8 凡事都不可亏欠人，唯有彼此相爱，要常以为亏欠。因为爱人的，就完全了律法。 9 像那“不可奸淫，不可杀人，不可偷盗，不可贪婪”，或有别的诫命，都包在“爱人如己”这一句话之内了。 10 爱是不加害于人的，所以爱就完全了律法。
当趁早醒悟
11 再者，你们晓得，现今就是该趁早睡醒的时候，因为我们得救，现今比初信的时候更近了。 12 黑夜已深，白昼将近，我们就当脱去暗昧的行为，带上光明的兵器。 13 行事为人要端正，好像行在白昼。不可荒宴醉酒，不可好色邪荡，不可争竞嫉妒。 14 总要披戴主耶稣基督，不要为肉体安排，去放纵私欲。
Romans 13
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 13
Obedience to Authority.[a] 1 Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God.(A) 2 Therefore, whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgment upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear to good conduct, but to evil.(B) Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good and you will receive approval from it, 4 for it is a servant of God for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword without purpose; it is the servant of God to inflict wrath on the evildoer.(C) 5 Therefore, it is necessary to be subject not only because of the wrath but also because of conscience.(D) 6 This is why you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7 Pay to all their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, toll to whom toll is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.(E)
Love Fulfills the Law.[b] 8 Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.(F) 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, [namely] “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”(G) 10 Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.(H)
Awareness of the End of Time.[c] 11 And do this because you know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;(I) 12 the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness [and] put on the armor of light;(J) 13 let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day,[d] not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy.(K) 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.(L)
Footnotes
- 13:1–7 Paul must come to grips with the problem raised by a message that declares people free from the law. How are they to relate to Roman authority? The problem was exacerbated by the fact that imperial protocol was interwoven with devotion to various deities. Paul builds on the traditional instruction exhibited in Wis 6:1–3, according to which kings and magistrates rule by consent of God. From this perspective, then, believers who render obedience to the governing authorities are obeying the one who is highest in command. At the same time, it is recognized that Caesar has the responsibility to make just ordinances and to commend uprightness; cf. Wis 6:4–21. That Caesar is not entitled to obedience when such obedience would nullify God’s prior claim to the believers’ moral decision becomes clear in the light of the following verses.
- 13:8–10 When love directs the Christian’s moral decisions, the interest of law in basic concerns, such as familial relationships, sanctity of life, and security of property, is safeguarded (Rom 13:9). Indeed, says Paul, the same applies to any other commandment (Rom 13:9), whether one in the Mosaic code or one drawn up by local magistrates under imperial authority. Love anticipates the purpose of public legislation, namely, to secure the best interests of the citizenry. Since Caesar’s obligation is to punish the wrongdoer (Rom 13:4), the Christian who acts in love is free from all legitimate indictment.
- 13:11–14 These verses provide the motivation for the love that is encouraged in Rom 13:8–10.
- 13:13 Let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day: the behavior described in Rom 1:29–30 is now to be reversed. Secular moralists were fond of making references to people who could not wait for nightfall to do their carousing. Paul says that Christians claim to be people of the new day that will dawn with the return of Christ. Instead of planning for nighttime behavior they should be concentrating on conduct that is consonant with avowed interest in the Lord’s return.
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